Painters

Oskar Kokoschka
(1886-1980)

In 1907 Oskar Kokoschka started
to study at the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts and worked
for the 'Wiener Werkstätte'. Kokoschka's interests were
not only limited to painting, but also to literature. His
work at that time was considered as extremely violent and
destructive. Due to this he was expelled from art school.
By 1910 he went to Berlin and worked at the magazine "Der
Sturm" as an illustrator. At the beginning of World War
I he volunteered for the Austrian Army. In 1915 he was seriously
wounded, taking years for his recovery.

In 1919 he was appointed professor at the Dresden Academy
of Art. During the 1930s with the rise of the national socialist
party the political situation began to leave a harsh impression
on the art scene. In 1939 Kokoschka and his wife fleed to
England, while his work was displayed in Munich in a mockery
exhibition of degenerated art. After the end of World War
II he returned to Austria. In 1953 he started running his
"School of Seeing" at the 'Sommerakademie für bildende
Künste' in Salzburg.